skip to content

Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesInstitute of Archaeology

Archaeogaming

Archaeogaming is an emerging subdiscipline in the archaeological/historical sciences that has emerged in recent years and is concerned with the study of various aspects of video games in relation to history and archaeology. Coined by American archaeologist Andrew Reinhard, Archaeogaming examines, among other things, the influence of video games on the image of the past and the profession of Archaeology (Reinhard 2018).

In the summer semester of 2022 and 2023, Sebastian Hageneuer of the Archaeoinformatics Department of the Archaeological Institute has partnered with the Digital Humanities Department to create a joint course in which students in Digital Humanities, Digital Archaeology, and various disciplines of traditional archaeology will work independently in groups to develop short video games that critically engage with the issues of the representation of the past and/or the profession of Archaeology. This page lists the games created as part of this course, which can be accessed via the menu on the right.

In addition, some seminar papers on the topic of archaeogaming were written during this time, which were not published, but are nevertheless listed here below as a result of this working group. In the following you will find an introductory bibliography on the topic. In addition, presentations recorded during the CAA 2023 in Amsterdam can also be found on this page.

Bibliography

  • Bonner, Marc, Hrsg. Game | World | Architectonics. Transdisciplinary Approaches on Structures and Mechanics, Levels and Spaces, Aesthetics and Perception. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2021. https://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de/reader/download/752/752-68-93331-1-10-20210418.pdf.
  • Chapman, Adam. Digital Games as History - How Videogames Represent the Past and Offer Access to Historical Practice. Routledge Advances in Game Studies 7. New York: Routledge, 2016.
  • Giere, Daniel. Computerspiele - Medienbildung - historisches Lernen. Zu Repräsentation und Rezeption von Geschichte in digitalen Spielen. Forum historisches Lernen. Frankfurt am Main: Wochenschau, 2019.
  • Kapell, Matthew Wilhelm, und Andrew B.R. Elliott, Hrsg. Playing with the Past. Digital Games and the Simulation of History. New York - London: Bloomsbury, 2013.
  • Lorber, Martin, und Felix Zimmermann, Hrsg. History in Games. Contingencies of an Authentic Past. Studies of Digital Media Culture 12. Bielefeld: Transcript, 2020.
  • Mol, Angus A.A., Csilla E. Ariese-Vandemeulebroucke, Krijn H.J. Boom, und Aris Politopoulos, Hrsg. The Interactive Past - Archaeology, Heritage & Video Games. London: Sidestone Press, 2017. http://www.interactivepasts.com/blog-posts/interactive-pasts-hype/.
  • Pfister, Eugen, und Tobias Winnerling. Digitale Spiele und Geschichte. Ein kurzer Leitfaden für Student*innen, Forscher*innen und Geschichtsinteressierte. Glückstadt: Werner Hülsbusch, 2020.
  • Reinhard, Andrew. Archaeogaming - An Introduction to Archaeology in and of Video Games. New York - Oxford: Berghahn, 2018.

Seminar papers

  • Antwi, L. 2023: That belongs in a museum! Creating Archaeogames from idea to release. Seminar paper.
  • Breninek, C. 2022: Archaeogaming - Eine Analyse archäologischer Fakten in Videospielen am Beispiel von Ubisofts Assassin's Creed: Origins. Seminar paper.
  • Ehlers, D. 2022: Welcome to the Borderlands. Seminar paper.
  • Fayek, D. 2022: Archaeogaming and The Analysis of The Forgotten City. Seminar paper.
  • Kingston, R.G. 2023: Age of Mythology: Immersing History and Myth in Archaeogaming. Seminar paper.
  • Sotomayor Chicote, M. 2023: Exploring the boundaries of Archaeogaming: Unearthing the Wild West of Red Dead Redemption 2, Seminar paper.
  • Thomalla, T. 2022: Archäogaming - Total War: Rome 2: Krieg und Wirtschaft als Spaß! Seminar paper.

Videos

In Apriil 2023, a workshop was organized at CAA in Amsterdam on the topic. The playlist includes the following presentations: